December 2011

Ryder's First Christmas Tree:

Meeting Santa Clause:

 Christmas with the Taylor Family:

We spent the day in San Diego with my Aunt Sue, Uncle Bruce and Cousin Jessica.

We took the train to Los Angeles and spent the day on Alvera Street with the Martin family.

Unfortunately we ended December with a 2am visit to the ER with Ryder and croup.  But Ryder was a smiley guy even in the ER, what a trooper!

Our busy boy

Ryder watching himself on my phone:



Ryder learned how to make the Jingle bells jingle...lol



What keeps a child busy for more than 5 minutes. Foam letters and blocks. Who knew:

9 months old and on the move

Height: 28.5 inches
Weight: 19 lbs and 12 ounces

We had Ryder's 9 month appointment a little late. He is growing and developing beautifully and such a happy baby! Here are some of his favorite things:

He has 1 tooth that is totally out (bottom front) and 2 top are just peeking through the skin.


He loves balls. chewing on them, throwing them, pushing them, shaking them...

He is pulling himself up to standing often and now lets go for 5-10 seconds and can balance.


He loves to eat finger foods or try to get anything we have on our plate.



He loves his new push toy and can walk with it without help now.

He loves playing peek-a-boo with my shirt. He pulls it up over my face, then down and smiles

He loves to take baths on his own. He has the run of the tub and crawls around and plays.

Sleep Training

Jason and I finally decided that we couldn't keep laying/sitting/rocking etc with Ryder for hours to get him to sleep and to stay asleep. Though a good cuddle and nap are nice every once in a while, this process on a daily basis for nite-time and 3 naps was killing us!

I thought I'd share the process our pediatrician had us try:

1) do your regular prepare for bed routine. Ours includes changing Ryder into a nite-time diaper and pj's. Singing twinkle twinkle little star. Then rocking him with his pacifier.

2) We only rock him until he is tired.

3) lay him down with his pacifier and lovey (a nice cuddly blanket with satin edges that he likes)

4) Use your voice and touch to sooth him.

5) leave - and wait 5 minutes

6) if he is crying and upset - go back in after 5

7) only use voice and touch. avoid picking him up.

8) leave for 8 minutes, then 10.....keep the intervals at 10 until he is asleep

This is also done for naps. but only for 1 hour. if he doesn't sleep within the hour. bring him out and play until he shows signs of tiredness. No longer than 2 hours

Our results:

Night 1 (Saturday) he fell asleep after 2 hours

Day 1 (Sunday) we only succeeded in one 25 min nap

Night 2 (Sunday) exhausted = 10 minutes to fall asleep and full 12 hour sleep

Day 2 (Monday) 1 long nap. 1 short

Night 3 (Monday) it took a little over 1 hour for him to fall asleep. He slept 9 hours

Day 3 (Tuesday) no naps in the crib, but a very long nap in the car (2.5 hours)

Night 4 (Tuesday) it took 30 minutes for him to go down. He slept 11 hours

Day 4 (Wednesday) 2 naps in his crib (20 minutes and 1.5 hours)

Night 5 (Wednesday) took an hour to go down. Slept 9 hours

Day 5 (Thursday) one 30 minute morning nap. No nap #2

Cruising for a Bruising

Ryder finds anything possible to get himself up on and push across the room. He has been taking his hands off couches and such for the last few weeks to balance. He rarely took more than a step or two side to side until this last week. At work he loves to turn the trash can on it's side and push it across the floor. Today we got him a push toy that allows him to walk across the floor with it in his hands.

Super Chomper

We have teeth! Well, we have a tooth. I started to feel it on September 28th. All of a sudden I felt it. No sleepless nights as it poked through. But we sure have had some since then.

10/8/11

10/23/11

Pumpkin Fun

We visited a pumpkin patch in Sacramento with Jason's Dad's family. We got to pet the animals, pick out pumpkins, climb on hay hills, go in a tree house, and go through a corn maze. We just enjoyed watching Ryder take in all the Halloween excitement!

The pumpkin Ryder would have liked to take home

Ryder and his pumpkin - just the right size!

The Corn Maze

Julie and Ryder with the goats

Grandpa Alan and Ryder

Busy, busy, busy!

And I'm not just talking about Ryder

Two weeks ago I went back to school and last week I went back to work. I enjoyed my Ryder time so much it has been quite an adjustment.

My family decided they only need me 3 days a week this year. Their boys are so grown up! They are in 8th and 12th grade.

With that huge change it gave me time to take my last masters class. A blessing in disguise I guess. But still a ton of work with no free time to do it in.


This has also given Jason some serious daddy time! He goes into work early to come home early so I can get to class. His first day with Ryder he commented that he got nothing done...welcome to my world hunny!

Ryder has really been enjoying all this dad time! He's growing and changing and developing daily. Here is what he's been up to since my last post:

Noises - Ryder makes all kinds of sounds, gurgles, growls, giggles and screams. He cracks us up!

Food - Ryder has tried carrots, squash, applesauce, prunes, pears, apricots, peas, green beans, bananas, etc. He is really starting to enjoy food time with us! He now grabs for whatever we have. So foods he can hang onto and suck on are great. Melon, bell peppers, cucumber, ...

Movin and shakin -Ryder is crawling everywhere! He started to crawl on august 17. He wasn't too coordinated. Within a week or so he was crawling over things like or leg or a toy. Now he is crawling up us and pulling up on things.

We have a crawler!

Here are the cute steps Ryder went through as he learned to crawl:


Plank (just toes and hands on the floor):

on our knees:

1 knee down and the other foot down:

Video from today:

How we've changed

June: Ryder talking with me on the couch




July: Ryder hanging out with Weston




August: Ryder enjoying his new toy and getting up on all 4s

Boys Only

It was so good for Ryder to get to spend so much time with his cousins. I grew up very close to my cousins and I want him to be able to have all those amazing memories too. I even watched Weston and Ryder alone one day to test out my love of twins and I learned very fast that that idea can wait. Here are some of my favorite pictures of the boys:

Lions, Tigers and Bears!

The OC Fair was in town so we had to go. I loved the fair when i lived in OC and I wanted Ryder to get to experience it too. Nana and Ryder and I met Brandon, Ashley, Hunter and Weston at the fair on Wednesday evening.




Brandon, Ashley, Hunter and Weston had extra tickets to the Circus on Saturday, so we had to join! I can't remember the last time I went to the circus. It definitely was a different experience as an adult. The kids enjoyed watching the animals and clowns perform:

Tanaka Farms

Ashley, Hunter and Weston invited us along to see Tanaka Farms. What a fun experience! It is a fully functioning farm in Orange County. You get to take a tractor ride around the farm as you learn about the food they grow. As we pass certain foods they bring some on board for everyone to try.



yummy tomatoes:


Hunter devouring some blueberries:


Weston trying a carrot:


Ryder trying squash:

Hunter enjoying the farm with his girl: